Coming of Age at the End of Days
"Seductive." —Vanity Fair
"LaPlante crafts prose that cuts to the quick and is the perfect vehicle for this dark tale. . . . A compelling read." —Seattle Times
"Spare and trenchant, as if purified by fire. . . . [LaPlante's] swift plot, combined with a few stunning twists, keep the story skipping along. . . . A crisp meditation on the deadly mixture of mental illness and religious charlatanism." —San Francisco Chronicle
"Readers were captivated by the imaginative plot and cast of characters—each of whom, as one writes, 'plays a crucial role as Anna wrestles with melancholy, faith, salvation, and whether or not love can possibly trump the end of days.'" —Elle, Winner of the Readers' Prize
"[Coming of Age at the End of Days ] raises questions about mental fragility, vulnerability, and a variety of paths toward wholeness, many of which will find resonance among readers." —Bookreporter
"LaPlante masterfully weaves a distressing plot in which complex, sympathetic characters, each with a complete and absorbing past, are brought to the brink of destruction . . . [a] brilliant, thought-provoking and memorable novel. It perfectly captures the dynamics of family relationships and friendships, loyalties and priorities, and the nuanced workings of an unusual mind." —Shelf Awareness
"A thought-provoking bildungsroman. . . . LaPlante’s rich themes of faith and doubt, vision and blindness, emerge compellingly." —Publishers Weekly
"Tension and suspense are heightened through short chapters, terse matter-of-fact prose, and what is left unsaid." —Library Journal
"[With] fleet, insightful prose, LaPlante delivers gratifying . . . twists in one girl's search for salvation." —Kirkus Reviews
"LaPlante has a talent for depicting family dynamics and for making the environments her characters inhabit reflect their inner states." —Booklist
"An electrifying and beautifully rendered page-turner, Coming of Age at the End of Days is a richly evocative look at what it means to find yourself in a world that can feel so hopelessly lost." —Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia